Hearts
by L.C. Techno
Summary: A laconic Bongun is content being in the dark cave until one night his Munak is abruptly taken from him. Frantic, he seeks her in the outside where he might die...or truly remember who he is. In first POV.


**HER HEART**

She's there again, staring at the ceiling. She's usually a bundle of energy, hopping all around but sometimes for reasons unknown; she'd stand there, at the rocky ceiling.

"What are you doing here again?"

She turns to look at me. Damn, she looks so pale. Paler than usual. Dark lines under those dark eyes, empty now, eyes.

"Huh?" She sways, unsure where to go. Must be getting woozy. She's so tiny, littler than most them. I place my hand on her forehead. The little red hat barely reaches my shoulder.

"You've been standing too long." She's disconcerted, falling to my chest. I hold her tightly. I search for a heartbeat; it is weak.

"Your heart's beat is slower, Munak." We call each other the same. All red, Munak and all blues, Bongun.

"Nya…?" My red clad girl drawls. I hop and carry her to a rock. Carefully laying her to rest, I listen for a heartbeat. Slower and slower...

-

"_Slower and slower! Bongun is so slow! Hey…Bongun!" She waves her little arms._

"_What?" I hop forward._

_She points up. "Ever wonder what's up there. Let's see." _

"_No."_

"_Oh, lesse!" Munak runs and hops towards up. I leap after her. Her cheeks are flushed, face is sweating. She's so energetic that she tends to hurt herself. I always have to watch her. I crouched then pounced, catching her by the waist. I turned her over so she wouldn't fall. Little Munak, more than little shocked._

_"Who's slow now?"_

_-_

"Not I..." I need to be fast. I need to find blood. I hop furiously but I come upon Grand Munak. She's the strongest of reds and they all follow her. That's why I call her the Grand. I nod my respect; she returns it. Her lips are very red and red trickles from her mouth.

"Blood." I say. Grand Munak holds up a hand, imploring me to listen. Muffled screams. With the other hand she points further down the darkness. I bow down. Grand has proven her superiority over the reds, but she couldn't talk after a feeding. Grand hops away, smiling; I continue towards the screams.

-

I take her in my arms and lean closer. A splotch of red splat on her face...My lips dripping with red.

-

My Munak wakes, still dizzy. "Nya."

"Never do that again."

"Bongun?" She jumps up and holds on to my neck. Surprised but I keep balance. She hops off and looks back to me. She's worrying again so I stick out my tongue at her. Now Munak's annoyed. Her back turns at me, and the daenggie swinging hard, she walks away. Her way of ignoring me. Silly girl. She'll look back but instead will find that I've turned my back too. She'll be furious that her hops resound through the cave.

And her hops do resound through the cave. Predictable she is, my Munak.

I'm resorting to childish tricks, I know. But my Munak is a childish sort...that's why she's my Munak.

* * *

"Bongun?" 

"What?"

"I don't think your name suits you..."

Silence...

"That's why I'll call you idiot!"

As a response, I reach out and pinches her nose. She huffs and stamps in mock annoyance but she stops and peers very close at me. Her eyes are twinkling and happy.

"Made you smile!"

I am not smiling...I'm not smiling...Damn, I am.

Munak twirls on her foot. "Idiot?"

"Do you want your nose pinched again?"

She laughs and hops but stop. She looks to the rocky ceiling, slabs of pointy rock. Farmiliars glare back at her. "Haven't you ever wondered what's beyond here? Up there?" Closing her eyes to imagine. Silly girl. The smile grows. "I kind of remember something..."

"Everything is bright  
and something is blue,  
pink snow is falling then..."

Munak turns to me, "Then there was you."

Her hat's falling over her eyes again; I beckon her and arrange it.

"This is who we are." I point to her talisman. "This is where we are. Stay."

She's distressed. Damn, she must think I'm angry at her. Just then Grand passes us, along with a dozen or so hopping reds and maybe a solitary blue. I gave her a slight push. Munak's like a frightened novice at first but she joins the crowd. They'll be happy or close to it. Going in groups to attack any outsider. Typical Munak, quickly forgetting her troubles. But what if...

If she ever gets out, will she quickly forget me? I don't want her to forget me but if she ever does...I'll never forget her.

* * *

Just then I realized I've been standing all this time.

* * *

It is darker than most nights. Because I still remember something called day. No flame, no glow, nothing. A dull red among dark. She must be staring at the ceiling again. I warn her again when a flash appeared around her. Brilliant blue and the sound of rushing waters. She held out her hands for me, crying.

"**BONGUN**!"

"**MUNAK**!" I let everything go as I speed towards her. I lunge for her only to taste dirt.

Stupid, stupid, stupid! I scream so painfully.

"It's no use screaming." Grand appears from the darkness, a Horong lighting her way. "She has been summoned."

What is she talking about!

"She has been summoned, chosen by the powers beyond. This is an unusual but not uncommon occurrence. " The Grand Munak know more things of the outside than any monster here. How? Nobody dare ask.

"Alas, she is probably lost to the outside. Truly dead or worse..." No further explanation, she hops away, Horong following.

Of all the Munaks... "**WHY**!"

Grand stops to face me. "Who knows?"

The Horong makes a rushing noise_. "Who cares?" _

I lunge at fiery creature, screaming. Darkness fell and Grand's steps left. My hands stung and I sit there for the longest time.

"I do..."

"I DO!"

My screeches do not bring her back.

* * *

Grand and her bevy of reds pass me now everyday. She always looks at me and asks questions. If before I was sparse, now I'm silent. For her, only for my Munak did I speak. Now she is gone, I force myself still until my heart stops beating . So I could truly die. If I don't move, I will die. If I don't hop, I will die. This I know. But I do not care. No one realize this, except for Grand and I. Hours and hours pass yet true death did not come. In all that time I found myself thinking of her...

"_Everything is bright..."_ The grass was greener and our wooden house was polished sparkly.

"_Something is blue..."_ It was called a sky and there were white things called clouds. I was on my back watching them...

"_Pink snow is falling"_ It's not snow; it's the blossoms of our cherry trees. The silly girl...

"_Then there was you..."_ the apple falls from her hand, as she slowly opens her eyes. Half asleep, because she's been using my lap as a pillow. Her grandma is calling her. Her father sees us and instead of scolding me for not training. He smiles sadly. I was going to leave her and she didn't know it...

I jerk my head up. "Not this time." My body courses with determination. I stand up and dash to the portal. Grand steps in and halts me.

"You must not go to the outside."

"I will."

"There are hunters out there." She means the outsiders, the one above.

"So? Also here."

Grand cannot stop me. She lowers her voice.

"You will die."

"I will try."

I pass on to the upper levels.

* * *

A Munak a bit larger than others stand by herself inside the cave. She looks sullenly to the ground while the rest of the Munaks began gathering around her. She does not move, she does not hop. Instead she whispers to herself. "Stupid boy."

She spots another in blue. With no hesitation, she grabs him and begin to attack him. The others join her, in mindless battle. "Stupid boy," repeats Grand in her mind. "Risking his undead life for such a tiny thing." She kicks savagely at the Bongun.

"He will come back to me. He will."

* * *

"I swear I saw a Bongun around here!"

"Bongun? Don't be such an airhead. You of all people would know that Bonguns can only be found in Payon dungeons."

The hunter keeps looking back but I hide in the bushes. They go away after arguing some more. Finally.

I got out and began jumping on each foot; getting the blood started again. I barely got to travel; the sun was hurting me so much. Forests and nights are about as far as I go. I don't know where I'm going.

My head hurts. The talisman is urging me to go back. The pain was unbearable at the cave's exit but it dulls when I stand still. I don't know how I got out; I just dashed out. After a while the pain goes down. It still hurts though. It hurts more without her.

Why do I care so much?

A low growling noise. That wolf prowling about was beginning to annoy me. I crack my knuckles, ready for it. He must've smell me, does he want to hunt me? Let him come—I'm hungry.

The wolf appeared with feral, yellow eyes. The eyes stand out because of the dark. Swift, I turn out my foot and grab its neck. It snapped, stuff spurting from his mouth. I tighten my hold and bite into its neck. The claws flail but did not reach me. I aim a solid blow into its back's bone. And again and again...Only one cry before it became limp. I releas my mouth, the blood flowing from my mouth and the wound. It was so red...like her clothes. I sank my teeth into the fresh meat...

My head still hurts. But I feel better.

* * *

In the moonlight, I do my laundry. It's been the second night since I left. Why am I doing laundry? The blood reeks. Back in the cave it didn't matter, stench of death was always greater. Besides I want to. I still had my tight-fitting black suit on so I wasn't naked or anything. My head still hurts but I feel better with fresh blood on me.

I overturn my blue over-things, items drop from forgotten pockets. I put a rock on the blue clothes and let the stream wash over it. I look through the items.

_It was her! _

A little canvas, smudged by time but I'd recognize her from anywhere. She is still as pretty as ever. Unbidden tears smudge them even farther.

"_Look! Look! What do you think?" She asked him as she held out the canvas. That darn girl! Ruining his daily meditation. Her father, his training master, would scold him again. He was about to tell her off when he was struck by the picture. _

_Wow! Cute!_

_But he wasn't telling her that. "Whoa! What kind of hideous monster is that?"_

_Her eyes began to water. "Idiot! Grandma! He's making fun of me again!"_

_He enjoyed the view of the cute girl running down the polished wooden floors. He laughed to himself until he felt the bamboo sword whacking his head. The training school's master was standing behind, glaring down at him._

_After finishing the extra chores that the master punished him with (he found out the hard way that his master was the one who actually did the portrait), he tip-toed to her grandmother's room. The portrait was situated in vanity table. _

_Everyday he would go back, peeking at the portrait._

I hastily wipe tears away and put the precious portrait away. I look at the other item. The other one was a pink book with gold plated edges and a broken lock. I put my hand to my chest. I take the book and open it.

Why? Why is my hand shaking with trepidation as I turned the first page?

My head still hurts.

* * *

Inspiration of Munak's poem came from Harika's fic "Then There Was You."

So after a year of hiatus this is all I came out? A barely edited story taken from my ragtag collection of fics? I don't know, I just felt like doing something. I'm getting excited about the sembreak and the prospect of fic writing again. Meh, I wrote weird then.


End file.
